Looks like paying for shopping bags is finally coming in

[ctdctd]

Can I print my own with one of these newfangled 3D printer thingys?

Come to that, can I print my shopping?

[socialworker]

Does anyone not have one? (Or several?)

Lots. I give them to the local greengrocer. If they are Waitrose ones it makes her day.

[SueEllen]

Turns out reusable bags spread disease: The Disgusting Consequences of Plastic-Bag Bans - Bloomberg

This is an economic argument to save jobs.

They're OK as long as you clean them frequently, but only 3% of people do; and they're even more dangerous if stored in the car, which everybody does.

Nope mine aren't stored in my car as I occasionally walk to the supermarket. Some of us don't live or work in the middle of no where.

And the 10p ones rip before they get reused enough any way.

On the bright side, all supermarkets' giveaway plastic bags have been made of biodegradable plastic for years, and can also be recycled.

I think the lib dems etc are fed up of dog walkers using them and slinging them into bushes, trees etc. The bags rip open or are ripped open the poo falls and the bag remains there.

Anyway the retailers don't care it saves them money in the long term.

[Old Hack]

We've been going to France for years, many, many years. Each time we go shopping, we forget you have to pay for bags, and end up buying environmentally friendly ones off them. We now have around 30 of them. I reckon we'll be fine. They're so robust, I could build a bender with them...

[OwlHoot]

My new Plan B, sell then for three pence each

Or buy a container load for 5 cents each in America (c.f. article NickFitz referenced) and sell them for 4 pence here

(Notice from that article how we pay the same pence as they pay cents in the US - Rip off Britain as usual!)

Although SueEllen had a good point about this already being done in some regions of the UK, I still suspect it's mostly about giving the Lib Dems something to announce at their conference, and eventually it'll be quietly dropped, especially as NickFitz says the giveaway bags are biodegradable anyway.

[NotAllThere]

Paper bags are useless when it rains.

Supermarkets don't give free bags here (except to wrap meat etc.). Paper bags or robust plastic bags are available for not very much. You get used to taking bags with you, and to buying extra when you forget. After several visits to the UK, we tend to use Sainsbury's bags now.

[Anonimouse]

I don't mind paying for a bag, I do object to paying to advertise for the store. Bags should be plain.

If I forget my bags and have to pay I will turn them inside out.

I thought they were all biodegradable. I too use them as bin bags.

All that will happen is people will start buying bin bags again so there will still be tons of bags in landfill.

[VectraMan]

When my local Tescos brought in reusable bags a few years ago, they said they were going to stop giving out plastic bags completely after 6 months or so. Which obviously they never did.

Seems like a good idea, but how's it going to work with self service tills?

[OwlHoot]

Plastic bag tax should be donated to charity

No it shouldn't. That will allow misguided people to feel OK about giving 20p to charity rather than not using them at all, which is what the measure is designed to achieve.

Also, shoppers will be giving to supermarkets the choice of charity, and who's to say those "charitable donations" won't end up as simply a disguised substitute for Government spending.

[SueEllen]

When my local Tescos brought in reusable bags a few years ago, they said they were going to stop giving out plastic bags completely after 6 months or so. Which obviously they never did.

Seems like a good idea, but how's it going to work with self service tills?

You can already put your own bags on self-service tills but depending on the store it can be a hassle.

For example in Boots you don't need to bag the products and the till isn't bothered, however in Sainsburys or Asda the till goes mad if you don't bag the product, have something in your bag or use a heavier bag like a rucsack which lots of people in cities or who cycle do.

In B&Q and IKEA they don't give free bags out so they aren't bothered if you don't bag items or use your own bag however the tills are tulip and are unresponsive.

In Marks and WHS they try and charge you for a bag even if you haven't taken one so if you hit the wrong button you end up paying 5p. Not happened to me but happened to a few people I know.